The days were hot and lonely. After just a few days of having the house to herself Nicole felt as if she was being swallowed into a hole of nothingness. It was a dramatic description, she knew, but it was the only way to put into words how she felt.

Calls from her friends went unanswered and Nicole, despite her better judgment, had decided to shut everyone out. There was no way to mask the emotions that were brewing inside of her and she was in no way prepared to unleash the whole story even to her closest of friends.

Inside she was sure venting would help, but the last thing Nicole wanted to do was go out on the town with Holly to drink her feelings away - which she was certain would happen if her friend got wind of her sadness. For something insignificant, like blowing off steam after exams, a night out was a perfect remedy. For a broken heart, Nicole knew it was a recipe for disaster that would surely lead to a night of alcohol-induced sobbing in public.

Negan's truck has been absent from the driveway for the most part of two days. Nicole had witnessed him drop in home briefly only to leave again. She was fairly certain he had taken days off from work to help Lucille. The fact that they were rarely home had her wondering exactly what was going on.

It's none of my business, she thought to herself.

Nicole glanced down at her phone and shook her head, going against her prior thoughts and decided to stop playing the hermit game.

She scrolled through her list of contacts, finding Holly's name and typed out a quick text message.

Hey Holly. Lunch downtown at the sandwich shop with the outdoor seating? My treat...

Nicole tossed the phone down in the center of her bed and then took a peek at herself in the mirror.

"I look like a zombie," she said aloud, taking in her messy hair, tired eyes and disheveled appearance. For almost a day and a half she hadn't left the house aside from a trip to the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru and once to pick up a grinder down the street.

She waltzed down the hallway into the bathroom and turned on the water before stripping down and retrieving a towel. When her phone went off she quickly made her way back to her room to see Holly's response to her message.

Nicole's eyebrows pressed together as she read what her friend had written.

Downtown closed off! So is my street. Not sure why.

"Downtown is closed off?" Nicole quickly turned on the television and breezes through the local news stations. She tried to piece together some information from the different versions of the story, all of which ended with the same phrase: More information to come.

Nicole felt it. Something was off; not just with her life but with the world. She felt it somewhere inside and the feeling immediately began to gnaw at her core, making the hair stand up on the back of her neck. It was an eerie, unconfirmed revelation but she knew it was true.

She kept her eyes glued to the television for several more minutes before recognizing that the shower was still running.

The pit in Nicole's stomach deepened though she convinced herself that a shower with help ease the tension, even if it was just for a short time.

She hurried down the hall now, both wanting to take advantage of the time under the water and wanting to investigate the nature of the town's mystery even further.

A collection of thoughts and possibilities entered her mind, some realistic and comfortable and others foreign and scary. The thought of Holly being stuck at her house suddenly made her wonder if that might happen on her street - not that Nicole hadn't made herself her own willing prisoner already. Still, the thought of not being able to leave made her anxious.

The reporters on each station could not provide concrete evidence of anything. All Nicole knew was that there was an increased military presence, the police forces were out in full force and at least half of the town was shut down.

The words terrorists, bomb threats and other scary but familiar terms raced through her mind. Ironically enough, Nicole found herself wishing that she could be actively involved with whatever was going on. Had she graduated a year earlier, it would have certainly been a possibility.

Her mind drifted back to the events she'd witnessed on television about Washington D.C. and how Richmond had also been affected by odd, violent incidents as of late.

Nicole closed her eyes and tried to push the thoughts away, now matter how interesting, as she began to shampoo her hair. Each time a new, anxious thought entered her mind she would count to five and push it away, forcing herself to relax.

It was a successful tactic for several minutes, and Nicole got through applying conditioner without dwelling on the chaotic world around her.

She bowed her head, letting the water dance of her upper back before finally tilting her head back to rid her hair of the coconut-scented product.

Nicole had officially let her wild emotions go when a loud, urgent beeping noise came from somewhere in the house.

She jumped, snapping her eyes open and bracing herself with a hand against the tile wall.

"What the fuck," she whispered to herself and quickly finished rinsing her hair as the noises persisted.

Nicole cranked the water off, whipped open the curtain and wrapped her dripping body in a towel to rush into her room where the noise stemmed from a television. A monotone voice accompanied the obnoxious noise, and Nicole only remembered hearing such a thing when most of the state had been shut down from an uncharacteristic blizzard years before and another time when an Amber Alert had been issued state wide for a missing child. Now, the voice rattled off a series of statements that added to seriousness of the growing, mysterious issue that grew weirder by the minute.

There is a county-wide curfew in affect beginning today. All residents must remain in their homes beginning at three o'clock p.m. This is not a drill. Anyone not in compliance will be subject to prosecution by the state police.

Nicole stared with wide eyes at the screen with her mouth open as the commands repeated. At the same time her phone chimes and she hurried to pick it up. When she saw Negan's number appear on the screen she swallowed hard and immediately picked it up.

"Hello?" Her voice was urgent and angsty despite saying just one word.

"Hey, honey." Negan sounded as if he was both whispering and out of breath.

"Hey... Negan what's going on?" Nicole somehow suspected his call was urgent from the way he spoke. "Are you at home? Are you hearing about what's going on?"

"I'm at the hospital with Lucille." His voice was just as anxious. "There's shit going on. I'm not getting answers but we can't fucking leave."

"Whats going on?" She asked him again.

"I don't know," he confessed. "I wanted to make sure you were ok there by yourself. I know your family's away."

"Yeah I'm okay," Nicole informed him. "Thanks." She cleared her throat. "I just have no idea what's going on."

"Listen to me," Negan went on, "Shit sounds pretty serious."

"I know."

"Does your old man have a gun?"

Nicole's eyes widened and she shook her head as she spoke. "No."

"I have a spare key under a flower pot on the back step of my house," Negan told her. "Go inside, go into the spare bedroom and in the closet there's a gun safe. The key is in the top drawer of the dresser off to the left, you'll see it."

Nicole's mouth hung open again and she didn't immediately respond.

"Nicole?"

"Is something really bad happening?" She finally asked.

Negan cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "I just want you to be safe honey. "

"What if you need it?"

"I have three rifles and a hand gun in there," he informed her. "Take whatever you want. I'm not getting back there any time soon." Negan let out a deep breath into the receiver. "Please, Nicole. You don't owe me anything but... please do this one thing for me."

Nicole swallowed hard and closed her eyes. His words motivated her more than her own safety. "Okay," she whispered back. "Thank you."

"Text me when you're back in your house. Don't open the door for anyone except the police."

"I won't."

"If anything happens call me doll. Anything you can't fuckin' handle."

"Okay."

"I gotta go."

"Okay," Nicole repeated, "Thank you Negan. Be safe."

"Thanks."

She bit her tongue and closes her eyes again, prepared to hear the line go blank but when it didn't she used the extra second to man up. With all that was going on she didn't know when she would see him again and so she took a chance.

"Negan..."

"Yeah." His scratchy voice sent chills up her back.

"I love you. You don't have to say it back but I just... I needed to say it... once."

There was a pause on the other end but Nicole didn't care. Even if he told her she was nuts she at least got the words out.

"Me too, honey." Negan sighed and cleared his throat. "Let me know when you're back inside your house."

"I will."

"Thanks, doll."